DOWAMA'S 43rd Annual Clergy Brotherhood Retreat will be held at the Spiritual Life Center in Wichita, Kansas during the Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple, Tuesday-Friday, February 3rd-6th, 2015.

Since February 27th, 2015 will mark the centenary of the repose of the patron saint of our Clergy Brotherhood St. Raphael of Brooklyn, DOWAMA will inaugurate the centennial year at the Clergy Brotherhood Retreat, which will focus on St. Raphael's life, ministry and legacy. The featured guest speaker will be Samuel Noble, well known for his blog "Notes on Arab Orthodoxy" and the newly published book he co-authored with Alexander Treiger The Orthodox Church in the Arab World 700-1700: An Anthology of Sources. Mr Noble, who has done extensive research on St. Raphael and translated all of the saint's handwritten homilies from Arabic into English, received his B.A. in Linguistics at the University of Georgia, M.A. in Middle East Studies from the American University of Beirut, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at Yale University. He will be joined by Matthew Namee of St. Mary Church in Wichita, Kansas, editor of OrthodoxHistory.org and a founder and member of the Board of Directors of "The Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas," who has done stellar research into the life and ministry of St. Raphael and other pioneers of Holy Orthodoxy in the New World.

On Thursday evening we will be treated to a very special presentation by Fr. Christopher Morris of St. George Church in Kearney, Nebraska, who will share with us the fruit of his research into the life and ministry of Fr. Nicola Yanney, the first priest ordained by St. Raphael, first proistamenos at St. George in Kearney, and circuit rider in much of the territory that now comprises our Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America from 1904 until his death in 1918. A sample of Father Christopher's research is available to watch on YouTube.

More details about the Retreat will be made available in the coming months, but mark your calendars now since you will not want to miss this one!